All multimedia and home electronics enthusiasts will have heard of Sony. Their products are known for sterling quality, whether it is Cybershot camera line or the Walkman series that changed personal music worldwide. Ericsson is no less accomplished, as the company had become one of the top mobile phone manufacturers in the world. The phones were not doing all that well though, before they signed up for a joint venture with Sony. After the agreements were signed, Sony and Ericsson both stopped manufacturing phones under their own brand names. The line was released under the joint brand name and therefore enjoyed no competition, at least from the home ground.

Sony brought their considerable multimedia expertise with music, cameras and video to the table, while Ericsson brought in the mobile phone technological knowhow. Together they created a new range of phones which had a powerful combination: the attractive design, packed with the best features that were available. Perhaps the only obstacle in their path was the rather prohibitive pricing, which slotted the phones firmly into the luxury bracket.

Considering the products were excellent, the mercurial rise to dominance just did not happen. The pricing was one aspect, however there were more reasons besides. Chiefly, there was the problem of compatibility with other devices. While the phones interfaced without a problem with computers, the ports that were on the device itself were Sony-branded. In today’s market, a number of people have more than one mobile phone. Carrying all the accessories for both phones, assuming they are of different brands, is cumbersome to say the very least. Most of the mobile phones now available have standard ports for headphones, microUSB from transferring data, and so on. Sony Ericsson phones till very recently had all proprietary ports, which reduced their popularity tremendously. Thankfully, these issues have been resolved and the rocky start to Sony Ericsson has finally been overcome.